Apollo Hospitals, the Chennai-based healthcare group, on Wednesday said it will announce the sale of its 66.32 per cent stake in stockbroking firm Apollo Sindhoori Capital Investments in the next two to three days.
Market sources have in the past said that the stake could be picked up by the Aditya Birla Group. Speaking to reporters today, the Apollo Hospitals Group's managing director, Preetha Reddy, without referring to the prospective buyer, said that "it will be the same group."
According to an earlier report in Business Standard, the deal pegs the enterprise value of the broking firm at Rs 390 crore. This will also mark the re-entry of the Aditya Birla Group into the broking business. On the timing of the sale, Reddy gave a rhetoric response: "Isn't it the best time to sell when the business is doing well?"
In 2003, the Birlas had exited the stock broking business by selling Birla Sun Life Securities, a JV between the Aditya Birla group and the Sun Life Group of Canada, to the JV Gokal Group. Formed in 1995, Apollo Sindhoori has over 700 offices across the country with over 140,000 customers.